Bali Motorists Lack Discipline: Bali

By Barrie | July 11th, 2007 | No Comments

On Friday afternoon, April, 26, a Muslim who has been living on the Hindu-majority island of Bali for more than a decade, got ready to go to the mosque for prayers. In a traditional kopyah hat and a sarong, he rode his motorcycle to the nearest mosque, driving serenely past police officers in Denspasar, certain that they would not book him for riding without a helmet.

“It’s okay. We are exempt from traffic regulations when we are going to a religious ceremony,” said the Sumatra-born April.

“The native Balinese are frequently seen driving along the road without helmets when they are wearing their traditional costumes,” he added.

Many people on the island say it is difficult to make national laws and regulations fit with their social and cultural traditions.

“I have never known of any specific regulation allowing motorists to ride without their helmets on if they are going to religious sites fully dressed in adat costumes,” said 25-year-old Andika.

“It just doesn’t seem right, you know. I mean I would look awfully stupid if I put on my udeng (Balinese men’s headscarf) under my helmet,” he said.

“As far as I can remember it is regulated by the regional administration by law, but I can’t remember in what year it was issued,” the province’s police spokesperson A.S. Reniban said.

“It is legal, we don’t simply let them go,” said the police officer, who fully acknowledged that kopyah, udeng and headscarves would not protect motorcyclists in an accident.

According to Bali Police data, traffic accidents on the island slightly decreased from 606 cases in the first five months last year to 594 cases in the same period this year. The number of fatalities, however, increased by 46 percent, from 216 people in 2006 to 316 people this year.

“In terms of quantity it declined, but in terms of quality it’s getting worse,” Reniban said, adding that the death ratio because of traffic accidents had increased from 1.5 people per day last year to two people per day this year.

He admitted that many motorists lacked self-discipline, and were often still unwilling to turn on their lights in daylight and even at night. He said, however, that it was rare for a person going to an adat ceremony to be involved in an accident.

“The case that often happens is that the sarong they are wearing gets stuck in the wheel,” he said.

Wayan Windya, a noted expert in Balinese customary law, however, explained that laws like the national traffic regulation would appear strange to locals. “We do understand that wearing helmets are important to protect the rider, but sometimes such a law cannot be applied in certain circumstances,” Windya said.

The Balinese usually wear elaborate and refined clothes when attending religious and traditional ceremonies, which were not designed with helmets in mind.

“It is a matter of respecting the local culture and religion. They don’t mean to break the law. But if the police insist on imposing the law, it is worried that it will cause social unrest among the Balinese,” Windya said.

Traffic accidents often happen during holidays, when people travel to their hometowns to celebrate with their families. Packed traffic during the Galungan and Kuningan holidays and reckless driving has been blamed for several accidents in the province.

The lack of safety awareness of motorists on the road, such as the use of helmets and complete safety equipment attached to the vehicle, remains a problem. Some motorcyclists in Denpasar only use one rearview mirror, while the requirement to turn their lights on is still alien to the Balinese.

“We are very concerned about this matter. We urge the public to improve their safety awareness. It is for their sake,” Reniban said. “The saddest thing is that we found that most of the victims of accidents are the youth. People should be aware of this.”

The police have said they will enforce the law to reduce the number of accidents, but the exemption of people wearing traditional outfits from the requirement of wearing helmets will continue. When asked if he felt safe when riding without a helmet when going to a prayer, Andika said, “Well, please don’t wish bad things to happen to me.”

Ary Hermawan